Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 3 Episode 7: Chaos Theory Recap With Spoilers

The episode opens six months ago in Maui. May and Andrew are on the beach, just a day before returning home. She asks what Andrew would say if she didn't go back to S.H.I.E.L.D. right away. She says she doesn't want to be one of the reasons their relationship doesn't work. Andrew reassures her that they're older and wiser now, and he won't lose her a second time. They toast to new beginnings.

Jump to a few days after they get back. Coulson is on the phone, asking Andrew when May is coming back. Andrew looks through a box of materials sent over to him from Afterlife. He opens a book and a puff of Terrigen comes out. Andrew is trapped in a Terrigen cocoon.

Present day, Andrew listens to Daisy and Coulson argue over the ATCU's containment methods. Garner backs up Coulson. Coulson is going to a summit on the future of powered people in the world. He'll be going in the guise of an ATCU consultant and will meet with the President of the United States. Andrew suggests sending a moderate Inhuman success story would be a good example for them. They suggest Joey, and Andrew agrees to reassess him.

Andrew runs into Simmons in the hallway. Simmons says she regrets telling Fitz some of the details of her experience. Andrew says she did the right thing, and warns that secrets will eat you up from the inside.

Simmons brings Fitz her phone. She says she kept it on her the whole time she was on the alien planet, but it's broken now. Fitz agrees to try to fix it.

Bobbi and May are on their return flight. May told her that Strucker went comatose before he could say anything. Bobbi thinks she's worried about Andrew, and tries to reassure her. Bobbi mentions that they've been trying to track Lash.

Back at the base, May does some digging into Lash and Andrew. She runs into Daisy. Daisy greets her, but May is in a rush to find Andrew. Daisy says he's evaluating Joey at an offsite training facility.

Joey shows how he's learned to control his powers, melting and shaping a filing cabinet into a ball. Andrew has a flash of killing Joey as Lash before snapping back out of it to continue his session.

Hunter finds Bobbi changing in the locker room. Hunter says they're one step closer to catching Ward, but Bobbi says it's not a good idea. Hunter tries to argue about what happened to Andrew, but Bobbi simply says she doesn't think either of them should go after Ward. She says she thinks Hunter has been reckless and stupid in trying to kill Ward to protect her. She doesn't want to lose him or for them to become so obsessed with revenge that they lose themselves.

Rosalind and the ATCU arrive on the Zephyr. Coulson instructs Daisy to show Rosalind around.

Fitz works on Simmons' phone. He's able to pull up the birthday video of Fitz and the team that Simmons had shown Will, as well as several photos of the planet. He then finds a photo of Simmons and Will together. He gets angry and slams his desk and walks away. He's stopped when an audio file plays of Simmons explaining how the moons disappear, but there's never any sun.

Andrew continues evaluating Joey. Joey asks about the Secret Warriors, and says he could be a weapon for Daisy's team. Andrew says Joey could be a dangerous weapon. May bursts in, against the protest of other agents on site. She convinces them to take Joey away so she can be alone with Andrew.

Mack meets secretly with Lincoln. Lincoln says he went looking for his friends, but all of them are missing or dead. He says he eliminated Mack from his suspect list, but he's sure Lash is in S.H.I.E.L.D., and says he can prove it with Mack's help.

Daisy shows Rosalind S.H.I.E.L.D.'s containment unit. Rosalind questions whether it's actually more humane than what the ATCU does. Daisy accuses her of being afraid of Inhumans, and Rosalind says it's absolutely true. She accuses Daisy of being ignorant for thinking all Inhumans will be as responsible or heroic as her.

May says she needs to know first, before anyone else. She tracked Andrew's movements, and examined his blood samples. She reveals that Strucker was alive when she found him, and that he told her what Andrew did. She knows Strucker wasn't lying. She asks what happened to him, and demands that he not lie. He beg her to stop asking questions, then shots her with an I.C.E.R.

Fitz continues listening to Simmons' audio logs, all recorded as if she were talking to him. He watches one with video, when Simmons was sacred and hadn't found water. She recalls when they first met, and about how she fantasizes about the dinner they were supposed to have.

May wakes up in an old, abandoned building at Culver University. Andrew has her chained up. He says he needed time away from S.H.I.E.L.D. to explain. He warns her that if his instincts take over he may change and lose control. He tells her how it all happened. The book was full of names of Inhumans, and the crystal was placed in it as a trap. He then underwent Terrigenesis. He said he was compelled, that he had to be near other Inhumans. He says he ended things with May to protect her, and that he needs her help now.

Coulson gets a call about Andrew and May. Rosalind tells Coulson about her discussion with Daisy. Coulson is putting on his "old look" of a suit and tie. After Coulson struggles with his prosthetic hand, Rosalind helps his tie his tie. Coulson tells her about his hand. Daisy comes in and tells them another Quinjet is landing.

Mack and Lincoln arrive. Lincoln explains that Lash has been finding Inhumans using Jiaying's ledger. Mack tells them only Andrew had access. They put it all together and Coulson reroutes the plane to find him. Lincoln tells Daisy them that Andrew won't always be able to transform. Eventually he will become Lash permanently.

Andrew brings up Bahrain, saying that May saw firsthand exactly how dangerous Inhumans are. He says he doesn't want to do what he's doing, but he has to. He reminisces about their first apartment. He says he's still the same man she fell in love with, and asks her not to give up on him. They kiss, and Coulson arrives.

Daisy and Mack ready a containment unit for Andrew. Rosalind orders her men to support Coulson, but tells them only to act on Coulson's order. Andrew tries to convince Coulson that he's on his side, that he's helping sort the good from the bad in this "outbreak" of Inhumans. Lincoln hears this, and gets angry. Lincoln blows the lights and enters the room with Andrew. Lincoln says Andrew has no right to play judge, jury, and executioner. Andrew says he has every right. Coulson says the ATCU is close to a cure. Andrew transforms into Lash, and says he is the cure. Lincoln begins fighting Lash.

Lash pins Lincoln down and is about to kill him when Mack shoots Lash. Lash chases Mack, and knocks him down. Lash is grabbed by Coulson's false hand. Lash turns the table, but the ATCU fires at him. Lash bowls through the ATCU, grabs Rosalind by the neck, and drops her over the rail into the courtyard. Daisy uses her powers to Rosalind's fall.

Lincoln says he's going to bait Lash towards the containment module. May finds the dead bodies in the hall. Lash catches up the Lincoln. May throws herself between them, and tries to talk him down. Lash transforms back into Andrew. May shoots him three times in the chest, knocking him into the containment unit. She seals the door. Lash appears. Gas is pumped into the unit to sedate him. Coulson asks how May knew she wasn't going to kill him. May says she didn't.

Fitz examines photos from the castle they visited with the monolith chamber. He finds a particular symbol and points it out to Bobbi and Mack. He takes the insignia of a space program involed in Will's mission, found on Will's sleeve in the picture of him with Simmons, and flips it upside down. To upside-down insignia and the symbol look similar. Fitz thinks there and older, more powerful organization manipulating things from behind-the-scenes.

Lincoln tells Mack he plans on sticking around for a while. Rosalind offers to put Andrew in stasis until they can find a cure. With some encouragement from Daisy, May agrees to it. Daisy and May walk away. Rosalind offers to buy Coulson a drink. Coulson accepts.

Fitz finds Simmons still awake, waiting for the sunrise. He says he thinks he may have found something to help them open the portal. He also says he heard her recordings and saw her video. He asks about the things she said, if she was just dehydrated or scared or confused. She said she was as clearheaded as she's ever been when she said those things. She asks what he thinks they should do about it. He says he doesn't know, and that they should just watch the sunrise.

May thinks about her vacation with Andrew while on a plane. She remembers the beach, saying she didn't think she deserved this kind of happiness. Andrew assured her that they both do. She cries while watching the sunrise.

Ward is in a room with Gideon Malick. Wards asks why he's there. Malick says he hopes Strucker doesn't wake up. Malick says he gave Ward what he asked for, but he's not sure that Ward is asking for the right things. He says he should think on a grander scale. Ward says he's going to cut off the head of S.H.I.E.L.D., and that, without Coulson, S.H.I.E.L.D. won't grow back. Malick gets a call from Rosalind. She apologizes for the delay at NORAD and promises to bring him in soon. Malick tells her to hurry. Rosalind hangs up. Coulson enters the room and they discuss getting breakfast.